The Rise of Deragon (The Deragon Duology #2)

52

Kellan

I will my eyes not to linger on Flora Deragon as she retreats towards the castle I intended to reduce to ash.

There’s a stark difference between the two Urovian princesses. I knew both women existed, but the looming ghost of Venus’s crown one day falling upon Pandora’s head always drew my attention to her first. When Pandora arrived on the Isle, really getting to look at her stirred my heart in ways that made me feel captivated and seasick simultaneously. I mistook her kindness for weakness, overlooking the true depths of her intellect and decisiveness—and it’s perhaps my greatest error yet. Because even now, in the fallout of her fury, Pandora exudes a maturity that no other woman I have ever known possesses, the kind of maturity that might have had the chance to balance out the volatility in me.

But looking at Flora . . .

She reminds me that I’m a hot-blooded man, one with a bad temper and a racing mind. She reminds me that beneath my pile of books and my years of resentment, there lives a primal creature ready to devour a woman so thoroughly they’d flee if they had the foresight to see inside my head. But Flora is no ordinary woman, and she has made it crystal clear that she’s anything but scared of me. She practically invited me to spar wills with her. Smoky eyes alight with condescension, olive skin like a spectacular oil painting, and a slender nose that quirked ever so slightly as we dueled.

I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a woman more.

When I come back down to earth, however, it’s clear that Pandora easily understands why I haven’t gone trudging after Flora just yet. So much so that I didn’t even notice her ask Madden for some privacy. He pretends to busy himself with one of the bushes downhill, picking berries that don’t exist. I’m so distracted by the stupidity of it that I almost miss it when Pandora says, “Guess you can’t call me ‘princess’ anymore.”

“I’ll put it to good use with your cousin.”

“I bet she’ll love that.”

“I don’t really care what she loves after that little arrangement she facilitated.”

Pandora shrugs, her smile dimming. “Flora always had more of Venus in her than I did.”

“I thought this whole time you were proud to not be like Venus?” It was one of her most redeeming qualities, one that I gripped like a vice.

“In some senses, I am. But in others . . . I don’t know. I feel like that small victory only came out of how angry I was, or how much Jericho pitied me. A win is a win, but what’s the point of having a backbone if you don’t have any teeth?”

“That’s the difference between our two lands, I suppose. Urovia rules with dominance, always on the offensive. Mosacian rulers aren’t like that. The knowledge of our strengths brings us the peace we need without picking fights.”

Pandora mulls over the words for a moment. “And those strengths are?”

“All the things I already know you stand for,” I say solemnly.

She thins out her lips, and for a second, I almost believe that she’ll cower. That she won’t speak out on the elephant in the room. But with the tip of her chin, her eyes barrel into mine with an intensity that is unmistakably Deragon . “You could’ve easily thrown Madden into the arrangement with Flora instead of going along with it.”

The laugh that leaves my chest is brittle. “I know.”

“Then why not rage against it?”

“You’re really going to make me say it?”

The confused look on her face nearly breaks my heart, confirming what I’ve already seen so much of today. Whether they know it or not, everyone she’s grown up around has always expected her to bend to their wishes, their will for her. It’s never been about Pandora, and apart from singing, she’s never gotten to be centerstage in her own life.

“I may be selfish,” I finally confess, “but I’m not cruel. I see the way he looks at you, Pandora.” My gaze casts a quick glance towards my twin. “It’s clear that a crown was the furthest thing from his mind when he met you, unlike me—and that’s the kind of love you deserve. The kind of benevolent ruler that Mosacia really needs.”

The weight of what I’ve just said is not lost on her, and I watch as Pandora’s eyes glaze over with an emotion I cannot read. She takes a careful step forward. “And what about you? Don’t you deserve love, too?”

“Who said I’m never going to have that?”

It’s true. I never said that this arrangement with Flora would be a futile one. Unexpected? Definitely. Impossible? I don’t think so—not when it appears that Flora might be as stubborn as I am. Hell, she and I might make this work out of pure spite.

Deep down, I’m starting to understand Madden’s instant fixation with Pandora, because after one conversation with Flora, I’m hooked. Hooked to the feeling of sparring wills and getting under each other’s skin. In time, maybe our conversations can soften into something else, but for now, I’m content. I’ve never been good at prioritizing companionship, so for all I know, Madden may have just saved me a great deal of trouble . . . or thrust me into a heaping dose of it. We’ll see.

Pandora smiles at me then, and I see just how weary she looks. Her heart has clearly been through the wringer, and as she looks over her shoulder to where Madden watches dutifully, I feel a sense of relief knowing she’ll be taken care of. He’ll allow her the rest and reprieve she needs. Part of me savors the fact that my brother doesn’t want to leave her alone with me, whether out of concern or jealousy or deep-seeded adoration.

She breaks the silence by assuring me, “I’ll see to it that your books get to you safely.”

“Just so Flora can set them all on fire upon arrival? No thanks.” I laugh, the sound true and maybe even a bit hopeful. Like the idea of them harassing one another until the end of time might be more fun than we’re anticipating. The thought manages to numb the realization that I may not see Andromeda House again for a long time. “Really, don’t worry about them, Pandora. Just . . . take care of each other.”

“Don’t say that for my sake if you don’t really mean it.”

“But I do.”

“How?” she finally asks, her composure cracking. “How am I supposed to believe you feel anything for me beyond bitterness?”

“Because I’m going to tell you something I should’ve told Madden a long time ago, and I’m going to trust that you take him there.”

“Kellan—”

“The hardest part about leaving Sevensberg was having to explain to Anna where Greer had gone, why she wouldn’t come back,” I say, swallowing hard against my guilt. “You could say that the two of them were inseparable, so when her time came, I chose to keep it that way.”

Pandora Deragon’s body shifts in my hold. She pulls back, eyes shining with fresh tears. Then, after one cry breaks through her line of defense, she kisses my temple and darts towards my brother—then towards the royal gravesites outside Zayanya Cathedral.